Marketing, advertising & media intelligence

While there's plenty of excitement about the possibilities of immersive virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR at the moment, sometimes the simplest innovations are the best and Google Cardboard, which combines mobile phones and the act of folding to create inexpensive virtual reality goggles, is definitely in that category. Google has made its design open source and while Kellogg’s and shopper marketing and digital activation agency Geometry Global NZ have taken inspiration from this technology and, in what it says is a first for the New Zealand grocery market, turned a box of Nutri-Grain into a virtual reality experience.

Kellogg's says purchasing an online cardboard VR goggle viewer can cost up to $30 (and there are plenty of different designs available via Google). But this one is all included on the limited-edition box and ready to be created with a pair of scissors, a butter knife and some tape (while the Nutri-Grain headsets aren’t Google Cardboard, Kellogg’s says its team have been in contact with Google during the development phase to produce the Nutri-Grain versions).

Users who download the Bolt app on iOS or Android, scan the QR code on the front of the box and stick their phone in the cardboard headset get three VR experiences: wingsuit flying, mountain biking and long boarding.

“When talking to teens, the target market for Nutri-Grain, you need to talk their language," says Louise Cunningham, executive director of Geometry Global NZ in a release. "Influencing purchase behaviour via tech and digital is now a significant part of what we do."

Kelloggs has long pushed the energy-providing properties of its product to young athletes—or, more specifically, to the mums who generally buy the food for those young athletes—and Nutri-Grain is teaming up with New Zealand skateboarder Levi Hawken to celebrate the new technology and communicate the brand's 'Unstoppable' story to Kiwi kids. In Australia, Kelloggs has an online hubdedicated to athletes who have "demonstrated exceptional traits in challenging their disadvantages". Kellogg’s NZ says it is planning on sharing Kiwi stories "with the same thread of inspiring content in the future" and there’s a plan in the works to have these produced a local level.

“Unstoppable is a way of life,” says Hawken, a pro-skateboarder, youth mentor and supposed inventor of the phrase nek minnit. “Encouraging kids into new challenges pushes them to test their boundaries and question other things in life that might seem out of reach.”

The app will continue to provide user access to content after the limited edition packs have sold out in stores and it also plans to continue the Bolt app into 2016 and provide refreshed content.

“Our research on current technology trends tells us teens will love the Nutri-Grain Bolt app and VR experience,” says Kellogg’s NZ marketing and innovation manager Julian Ng. "We believe it will continue to inspire them to face life with courage, strength and determination just as our unstoppable ambassadors do.”

Nutri-Grain has also been running a new TVC recently called 'Epic Eating'. And there's not an Iron Man in sight.

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On Monday, Whittaker’s launched its latest novelty chocolate-lolly mash up with a chocolatey answer to retro bakesale treat coconut ice. The Coconut Ice Surprise chocolate has a twist though, 20c from each block goes to Plunket – a charity which New Zealanders agree is a worthy cause. However, to relate the chocolate to the charity, Whittaker's has built the campaign around baby gender reveal parties, causing a backlash from the public who argue gender norms have expanded beyond blue for boys and pink for girls.

Genius From Elsewhere

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With over 10,000 fires occuring in South Korea residential homes every year, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has created a flower vase that doubles as a throwable fire extinguisher. The hope is it will raise awareness to the public safety issue of home fire safety.

2

Advertisers have stopped buying ads on YouTube after their ads appeared on children's videos where pedophiles had infiltrated the comment section.The New York Times investigates the comments.

3

The internet has been up in arms about a supposed 'Anti-LGBT' emoji, featuring a rainbow flag alongside the "no" symbol. However, according to Time, the emoji causing offence is actually "an unfortunate implementation of the standards that govern how text is displayed on our device".

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This year, Super Bowl audiences were treated to a 45-second video of Andy Warhol eating a Burger King Whopper. It was certainly a campaign unlike any before, but did it work? Adweek takes a look.

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As of 1 March, Queenslanders will be able to include one of five emojis alongside their licence places. The options—the laughing-crying face, the winking face, the sunglasses face, the heart-eyed face, or the classic smiley face—are courtesy of Personalised Plates Queensland.

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